24: Liberty
by Jay West
Summary: Jack Bauer and Eric Carter are two men who have sacrificed a lot for their country. Now they've been called upon to save the day again. A new, yet familiar threat is beckoning, and they don't know who they can trust. AU Post 24: Legacy


Eighteen months after 24: Legacy and four and a half years after 24: Live Another Day

Jack Bauer was used to pain. He had suffered a heroin addiction over a decade ago. He was held and tortured by the Chinese for nearly two years, and he's been mentally suffering for almost twenty years. So when the Russians kidnapped and savagely beat and tortured him, he wasn't surprised. He knew it was coming. They didn't want information, and he didn't have any to give. For the first two years, he handled it well. After all, there's no use fighting when you can't escape. For the next two years, he began to lose what will to live he had left. He had resigned himself to his cruel fate. For the next six months, the Russians would alternate between torturing him and allowing him to rehabilitate.

"Privet, Amerikanskiy. Vstavay. Eto vash sudnyy den'. Eto dlya tovarishcha Pavla Tokareva." A big, burly man spoke in a deep accent as he walked into Jack's cell, accompanied by a smaller male. Jack stared at him numbly, until the man's partner spoke up. "Get up, capitalist pig. Time for your punishment." He spat, as he began dragging Jack outside his cell, down a dimly lit hallway. Jack had been looking forward to this moment. His reprieve from the hell that was his life. His only regret was not seeing his grandchildren again.

The Russians had no plans to give Bauer a fair trial. It would be a simple execution. As they entered the execution chambers, another man greeted the two Russians. The one who'd get blood on his hands, Jack thought. "Jack Bauer. My name is Sergei Tokarev," The new man spoke. Upon seeing the spark of recognition, he continued. "You tortured my brother to death. And now, for crimes against the motherland, you are to be terminated immediately. The order came down from President Suvarov himself." Tokarev said with a hint of disappointment.

His disappointment didn't last long, as silenced gunshots rang out in the room. He was the first to fall. Two masked men stormed into the room with assault rifles. The two Russians had no time to react before they were shot dead. "Clear!" Shouted the first man. The second man ran over to the prisoner and untied him. "Jack, it's me. I'm here to get you out." The man said as he removed his mask, revealing an older face with grey sprinkled in his goatee and hair. "Tony. What took you so long?" Jack asked dryly. The first man took his mask off. "Bauer. My name is Eric Carter. Tony's said a lot about you. We're here to take you back home." He said as he handed Jack a loaded handgun. "I'll take point." Eric lead the way out of the room and navigated through the hallways of the gulag.

After narrowly avoiding a few patrols, the trio snuck out of the prison complex. They began to run through the woods. "The rendezvous point is just about a half a mile further." Eric finally said after they had gotten a mile away from the gulag. He held up a fist, signifying for the two behind him to stop. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "We're almost at the LZ. Start getting the motor running." He commanded. He hung up and put his phone away. "Let's go." He said to his followers.

Once they reached the helicopter, Jack finally spoke up. "How do you plan to get past all of the anti-aircraft radars and detectors?" He asked before getting on the chopper. "We're going to fly low enough not to get tracked by radar, and once we get to clear airspace, we're going to fly to London where we'll have a cargo jet waiting for us." Tony responded as they got on the helicopter. Jack seemed satisfied with this answer. "So who's side are you on now?" He questioned. The last time they had seen each other, they were enemies. "No one's. I'm here because I owe you. What I did all those years ago was not what Michelle would've wanted. I'm sorry for what I did." Tony admitted. Jack had long since forgiven Tony for his actions once he himself had been consumed by revenge. "Yeah." Jack finally responded. "We should be in London in a few hours. Yeah. It was easy. In and out, no one alive knew we were there." Eric spoke into his phone. "I'll debrief you when we get back." He said before hanging up. There was a tense silence in the hold thick enough to cut with a knife. Jack stared out the window at the rising sun, deep in thought. He might even get to see his family once again. His grandchildren. His daughter.

For the first time in years, he finally had a goal to live for.


End file.
